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Apple sets deadline for retiring old device ID system

It's official. Apple will longer accept new apps or app updates that access UDIDs. The company has set a May 1 deadline for this new policy.

"Starting May 1, the App Store will no longer accept new apps or app updates that access UDIDs," Apple wrote on its developer Web site today. "Please update your apps and servers to associate users with the Vendor or Advertising identifiers introduced in iOS 6."

UDIDs are the unique string of numbers that individually identifies each iOS device. Typically, they have been used by developers as a way to … Read more

Podcasts app update adds iCloud sync, custom stations

A new update to Apple's standalone app for podcasts adds a handful of new features and fixes some bugs.

Key among the new stuff is a way to create custom stations that get new episodes of podcasts when they're published. You can also set whether you want these stations to start with the oldest or newest episodes. These stations are stored on Apple's iCloud, so if you're switching between two different iOS devices, they'll stay synced up.

Apple's also tweaked the Now Playing view that looks a bit more like Apple's standalone Music … Read more

Google wants to 'Keep' your notes

Google wants to "Keep" your notes.

Yesterday Google introduced Keep, the new mobile and Web-based note-storing service that looks to take aim at products like Evernote. Boasting a simple, easy-to-use interface, Keep will work with Google Drive so that all notes are synced across different platforms. Users can edit their notes from either their phone or the Web and the information will be saved everywhere. You can also use voice dictation and photos to help enhance each note you take.

The BlackBerry Store has topped 100,000 apps, 30,000 of which were just added in the last … Read more

Schmidt: Google Now for iOS waiting on Apple for approval

Note: Since this story was published, first Apple, then Google, told CNET that Google Now was never submitted to the App Store. See this article for more.

Google Now, the app that pulls in relevant information based on a user's location, might be being held up by Apple for inclusion in its App Store.Speaking today at the Big Tent Summit in India, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt was asked when Google Now would be made available to iOS devices. The coded response didn't necessarily call out Apple, but did seem to hint that the iPhone maker is … Read more

New Google Play user interface on the way -- report

The Google Play marketplace could be getting a visual overhaul soon.

The folks over at Droid Life yesterday published photos of what they claim, is the latest version of Google Play, 4.0. The screenshots that the Android-focused site published show off several alleged design tweaks, including what appears to be a streamlined design aimed at making pages in the mobile apps a bit easier to flip through. Images are also much larger.

As Droid Life notes, the actual layout of the Google Play pages hasn't changed all that much, with search results being displayed in much the same … Read more

Pandora debuts ad-free app for Windows Phone 8

Pandora has tuned up a Windows Phone 8 app that's both free and ad-free.

Available as of today in the Windows Phone store, the app offers all the standard features for Pandora listeners.

You can create up to 100 different stations based on your tastes in music. You can tell Pandora what you like and don't like by giving each song a thumb's up or thumb's down.

You can filter certain songs that you won't want to hear and flip on a switch for higher-quality audio. Existing Pandora users can log in with their current … Read more

BlackBerry store tops 100,000 apps, up 30,000 in 7 weeks

BlackBerry's app store now has more than 100,000 apps, just in time for the launch of its BlackBerry Z10 smartphone.

The Canadian smartphone maker said developers have created more than 30,000 new apps over the past seven weeks since it unveiled its new operating system and devices.

Today, BlackBerry 10 customers can download Amazon Kindle, OpenTable, and The Wall Street Journal. CNN, The Daily Show, eBay, eMusic, Maxim, MLB at Bat, MTV News, Pageonce, PGA, Rdio, Skype, Soundhound, and Viber will be available in the coming weeks.

"The response to the BlackBerry 10 platform and applications … Read more

Walmart expands iPhone 'Scan & Go' app to 200 stores

Walmart is expanding its "Scan & Go" feature -- which lets users scan items with their iPhones while shopping -- to more than 200 stores across the U.S., according to Reuters.

Currently the feature is available in around 70 stores, mostly near Bentonville, Ark. and Atlanta, Ga. Now it's coming to 12 new markets, including Denver, Phoenix, Omaha, Neb., Dallas and Austin, Tex., Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Okla., Wyoming, Bozeman, Mont., Seattle, San Jose, Calif., and Portland, Ore.

The mega-retailer started testing the "Scan & Go" feature with employees last September and has since … Read more

Garageband for iOS update adds Audiobus support

A new update to Apple's Garageband software on iOS adds compatibility with popular third-party audio app Audiobus.

As part of the change, users can play and record from Audiobus-supported apps back into Garageband. That includes iOS apps from Korg, along with Animoog, DM1 - The Drum Machine, Loopy, ThumbJam, and others.

Other changes include a fix for a feedback issue from the headphone jack, along with the option to turn off grid snapping.

Audiobus came onto the scene late last year as a way for music apps to share data and continuity between one another. It's since been … Read more